Kokoro Aftercast
by BlumberBerry
Summary: Ulquiorra loses his memory of ever knowing Orihime. When she find this out, a swarm of pain anguishes her entire being and realizes she had feelings for him. She tries to help him remember what he was, what they were, and everything in between. Ulquihime


**Kokoro Aftercast**

**Chapter 1: The End is A New Beginning**

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The Gotei 13 had defeated Aizen. Not in a good way either, and one couldn't really call it defeat. Worded correctly, you could say they scared Aizen away, but for how long? He would come back, the caption commander knew. Fortunately the hougyokou was not in his possession currently. It was now in his.

How did he obtain such an item? Their battle was so fierce, who had time to think of such trivial things. Well, the answer can simply be called…

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Ulquiorra Schiffer, 4th espada of Aizen's army. Or should I say ex-espada. Defeated by a hollow human shinigami. Was it a fair battle? Most diffidently not, Ichigo Kurosaki's hollow took over after the espada had already used most of his energy. If the two of them had already fought with their full strength from the beginning, Ulquiorra would have won. But of course, Ichigo slides past death in every situation he comes across.

"Kill me," was what Ulquiorra said. Not asked, but commanded. He knew where he would go, to the pits of hell. In the last moments of his life, he realized where he would go. What had he done, killed two shinigami, kidnapped a young girl, followed an evil being, the list goes on. That's what he deserved…hell.

Ulquiorra was an intellectual one. He knew where he belonged. It was not heaven, not soul society, and his life in hueco mundo was up. Hell was where he belonged. He asked Ichigo to kill him, so his sword would cleanse his soul, and then the zanpakuto would send him to where he belonged. That was what Ulquiorra wanted.

But…he also knew what would happen if the katana didn't stab the last breathe out of him. Ulquiorra turned to the girl after Ichigo didn't agree to kill him. Because of the orange head substitute shinigami, the espada knew where he would go. Would he have memory of all of this, he didn't know.

Ulquiorra reached his hand out, he had to know one thing, his fate was determined. If hell wasn't for him, where would he go? He didn't quite know. Would Ulquiorra see her again? The questions spun through his head, but all he could mutter out was….

"Are you afraid of me, woman?"

Stunned. Pitied. Remorse. Guilt.

How did Orihime Inoue feel? That's what he wanted to know. So much had happened between them two during this time. The scenes of the slap, the heart, and kidnapping flew across his mind. That wasn't the question he wanted to ask.

His hand extended.

What he really wanted to ask was what a heart was. Still he never knew. But then she reached her hand back out. His eyes widened.

"I'm not scared."

"I see," he mumbled. Their hands almost touched. So close…the sun and moon almost reached, but in the end, the moon goes down and the sun goes up. The way it was meant to be.

Still he never knew what a heart was as his whole body turned to ash. He struggled to rein consciousness. '_What is a heart? Can I see if I tore open your chest? If I _cracked open your skull?'

He recalled that conversation.

'_You humans are all the same…just like.."_

What was the word? But then it hit him. The heart isn't inside your bodies. It forms when you care for someone. If you were alone in the entire world, your heart wouldn't be anywhere. The heart is…..

'_Oh…I get it. Right here…..in my hand. The heart.'_

If you entrust your heart to your friends, it will continue living.

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Orihime, Chad, Uryu, and Ichigo were sent back to the world of the living. They were told to keep their eyes out for anything suspicious. Aizen was still alive…somewhere. He still needed the Hougyokou and Karukura Town. Which one he would aim for first, they did not know.

Orihime was scarred for life after her _trip _to Hueco Mundo. She realized now she wasn't a killer. Just remembering Ichigo fight Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and Ulquiorra brought her to tears.

She was walking to school this morning, her bag in hand. "Whatever happened to those guys?" she asked herself all the while staring at her feet. She touched her chin with her finger wearily. "I know that if a hollow is cut with a zanpakuto, they are sent to Soul Society. Grimmjow was cut by Nnoitra…he has the powers of a shinigami…so?"

She blinked in confusion. "Nnoitra was diffidently killed by a zanpakuto, so he should be in Rukongai, and Ulquiorra just turned to ash."

Orihime tried to recall whether or not Ulquiorra was stabbed by Ichigo's sword. She shook her head, "I just can't remember."

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In the 13th district, a young man around the age of 17 or 18 was asleep under a tree. It was cold, a winter day. His black hair covered his face. He had nothing on but a piece of black fabric and a thin kimono. His lips were blue, and nose freezing to the touch. If he was out there for another 5 minutes, he would surely die.

'_I'm not scared.'_

His eyes snapped open and his whole body jerked. The young man immediately felt a gush of wind and shielded himself with this blanket. He blinked a few times and looked around. "Where am I?" He blinked a few more times, taking in the sight of light snow on the ground.

"You're in district 13 of Rukongai."

The black haired man turned to his side. There leaning against the tree was another man, having vibrant blue hair. He wore a white kimono that stopped just below his knees with black trimming.

"Who are you?" asked the young man, still on the floor. He was amazed as to how this other man wasn't chilled to the bone.

The blue haired man raised his hand to his chin and narrowed his eyes, as if trying to concentrate. "I think my name is….Gr-" he stopped for a moment, as if remembering something off the tip of his tongue, "Gr-Grimm…..Um yah…I think its Grimm. But yah.." he waived his hand as if brushing of the subject. I woke up and found you next to me, so I thought I'd wait till you wake up."

"Why exactly would you wait?" The dark haired man asked, a bit of confusion in his tone.

"Well.." Grimm started, "I can't remember anything. I thought you might know something. All I know is that we are in the 13th district of Rukongai, and I think my name is Grimm…that's it. Nothing before than comes across my mind." He started at the man on the floor out of the corner of his eye. "So, what's your name?"

The black haired man looked up at Grimm, he finally decided to stand up to face this blue haired stranger. He realized he was wearing a kimono almost exactly like Grimm's except it was black with a white trimming.

Grimm got a better look as he stood up. His green eyes and tear marks stood out on his pale face. He wasn't sure if it was because of the weather, or he was naturally the pale. Either way, he was able to conclude he was an odd one.

"I…." The green eyed man started, "I think my name is…Ul…Ulq" he stuttered, "Um…I think its Ulq. I don't remember anything either, I just woke up and saw you. I can't remember anything before that." He said in a bored tone of voice.

Grimm nodded. "I'm not sure why, but I think we should stick together. I don't trust anyone here considering I can't remember anything, and you're in my situation so…"

"Agreed" Ulq said flatly, his ink hair flaring over his face due to the gust of wind, his knees buckled from the chill. "All I can remember though…" he started, Grimm looked towards him, "Is a girl speaking to me."

"Do you remember how she looks?" Grimm inquired.

Ulq shook his head. "No. I don't. I just know she told me something important. Something I needed to know."

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**If you would like this to continue, review. But don't just say you 'nice' or something. Every time I leave a review, it's a lengthy one, so I would appreciate it if you would do the same. Oh ya! Halloween yesterday…I wanted to be Rangiku but I lost the fabric used to make the shinigami kimono…so I made an Ino cosplay outfit real quick from an old dress. Hurrah~**

**~Review~**


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